Article 22 March 20, 2006

To: SOS Members

The SCMPD has put out a survey, requesting citizen input on the selection of the new Police Chief. Please follow the link below to the City of Savannah website, where you can provide your feedback on the selection process. Try to be specific when providing your suggestions; this survey should provide not only a chance to contribute to the selection process, but also an indication of how involved we can expect to be in the future.

The survey can either be completed online or as a hard copy and mailed / faxed into the City or County administrative offices (click on the link below for either option). There is also a link to the survey on the Save Our Savannah website.

Regards,

Martin Sullivan

http://www.ci.savannah.ga.us/cityweb/webdatabase.nsf

(The following letter was sent out by Michael Brown & Russ Abolt concerning the survey.)

A comprehensive recruitment and selection process is underway for the position of Police Chief for the Savannah/Chatham Metropolitan Police Department. The search is under the supervision of the City Manager and the County Manager.

The primary work of national recruitment and candidate screening will be conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum of Washington, DC. We will be assisted by a 9-member Citizens Advisory Panel, chaired by Brian Foster. We will also utilize an internal staff evaluation team.

The leadership and management skills of the new Chief must be considerable, but will most certainly include the proven ability to direct aggressive, analytically driven neighborhood-oriented patrol. The Chief’s skills must include innovative implementation of crime reduction, crime prevention, prosecution, and interdiction of repeat criminal offenders. The Chief must have excellent personal skills including integrity, effective communication, problem solving, and resourcefulness.

We are now seeking input from the general public, through a citizen survey, about the skills needed in a new Chief. A copy of this survey is attached. It will be used by the recruitment firm, the Citizens Advisory Panel, the City Manager, adn the County Manager in their evaluation of candidates. Interested persons should complete and submit the survey online or mail/deliver it to the City or County Manager’s offices.

The survey will be posted on the City and County websites. Hard copies will be available on Monday, March 13, 2006, at the public libraries’ reference desks and at the community centers within the city of Savannah and Chatham County. Citizens may also contact the City adn County Manager’s offices to obtain a copy.

All interested persons are encouraged to complete the survey as soon as possible.

Thank you in advance for assisting us by completing the survey. For more detailed information about the selection process, please visit the City website, www.savannahga.gov or the County website, www.chathamcounty.org.

Sincerely,

Michael B. Brown, City Manager

Russ Abolt, County Manager